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The valley of the Rio Tuis continues to be a major draw for birders visiting the Turrialba area. My wife and I joined two other couples, John and Milena and Larry and Vera for a combined bird walk and barbecue cook-out. With three US citizens, two Englishmen and two Costa Ricans, we mixed English and Spanish, saw lots of birds and enjoyed great food, conversation and fun in a pristine environment.

It goes without saying that we left the river bank in the same condition we found it. Always remember to take your trash out with you when you leave!

Right at our picnic spot, a Sunbittern (Eurypyga helias) collaborated with a wonderful display of its wing plumage, caught by Larry’s camera:

Sunbittern, an amazing bird now found regularly on rocky streams in the Turrialba area, courtesy of Larry Waddell

On this occasion, Larry was photographer in chief, while John gave himself the considerable task of head chef, bringing food for the barbecue, setting everything up river-side and cooking the meat to perfection. I suppose it wouldn’t have mattered if we had forgotten the binoculars, but there too we had a great day’s bird-watching. At the river, the Sunbittern was joined by its usual highland stream companions, American Dippers (Cinclus mexicanus) and Torrent Tyrannulets